Orlando, FL - What to do there Besides Parks?

Wife is going to be there for a conference, and with it being so cheap to fly there, figured I would meet her there for the weekend.

Look into the Go City Pass. We found some cheap plane tickets and had an AirBNB credit that had to be used and did a long weekend using Go City. Kids had a blast over 3 days without stepping foot on Disney or Universal property. It includes both Kennedy Space Center and Legoland along with a bunch of their stuff.

What do you like to do?

Kennedy Space Center - also note there will probably be a launch when there, too. We have a couple spots we like to go for that. Could share those. Eat at the port and watch cruise ships and rocket ships go by.
Cocoa Beach - might be too cold to try to surf, but we've done it in February.
Playalinda Beach. January could be hit or miss. There's a nudist beach if you need to be free.
Orlando Science Center. If you have a pass to another member institution, it's free.
Disney Springs and/or outlets. It can be crowded, but lots of restaurants.

*It's a park, but SeaWorld has Fun Cards that are cheaper for a year than a day at Disney or Orlando

Gatorland. It's a guilty pleasure and cheap. Kids love the nature trail they have, too.

Something fun my wife and I just recently did... monorail pub crawl.
It took a few nights, but you could do it in one. Hit up the cool bars on the monorail. I can give you a list.

Lots of places to go Kayaking, but note January probably not the best.

There are some boat tours of the connected lakes, it's actually pretty neat and you can see some nice homes.

Sit by the pool. Enjoy the tiki bar. We goto Orlando as often as 1x per month some years. You don't have to hit parks to have fun there, but it does depend on who goes. My wife and I spent a week there just recently and had a blast without kids... pool time, fireworks shows, higher end dining than we'd do with kids, and lots of adult beverages. You don't always have to be go, go, go.

You can go fishing in the lakes at Disney. It's kinda fun to catch a bass as the ferry goes by full of kids and they applaud when you hold up a big bass. The guide will pretty much ensure you catch something.

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How close do you live to Orlando/do you fly to get there?

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It's a 6 hour drive. We usually book a throwaway day on the front end of the trip and sometimes even on the last day. We leave here after school/work and drive late when there is no traffic, getting there at midnight or later. I prefer it that way. The reason for the room on the last day is it's harder now to get late checkouts, and it allows us to enjoy the pool or goof off without the stress of getting out on their terms.

FYI we have family and friends there, it's the best way for our kids to hang out with their cousins, etc. So we have scoped out all the non-park stuff over the years. Sounds like you aren't taking kids, so I left those off. ;-)

Pro tip, you can make dinner reservations at any Disney hotel restaurant. Hotels are not in the park so you don't need a park ticket to go have dinner there. Same with Disney Springs. It's great for a night to have the Disney experience without having to buy a park ticket.